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But apparently, Fate had other more exciting plans for me!
Besides my usual illustration gigs, I also got jobs for recording voiceovers for TV and cinema ads for the Science Centre Singapore as well as Snow City, and also got cast in a music video ad to teach school children about certain aspects of road safety! I even landed my first (minor) "recurring" role in a new English local drama series, "Red Thread"!
More about that in upcoming posts!
I'd also found time to catch a few movies, and would highly recommend everyone go watch the Malaysian film, "Muallaf", and the Taiwanese surprise hit movie, "Cape No. 7"!
I'd long wanted to visit Taiwan, especially after watch "Cape No. 7", but I had never yet found the opportunity to set foot there...
So imagine my surprise and amusement when my Taiwanese friend, Frank, called me the other day and asked me if I had been to Taipei recently...
Apparently, he saw my face on a bank billboard advertisement in Taipei!
Anyway, he took a few photos of that ad and emailed me, and here they are...
Above images taken by Frank
This image was taken off the bank's website
Well! To think that my photo visited Taiwan even before I did! LOL
Haha, it turned out the image that the bank had chosen for their ad was from one of my earlier stock images photo shoots with Asia Images studio, and taken by the photographer Cedric Lim...
Although the stock images shoot was fun and a rather good source of income, of course, I'd much rather have been cast for that ad and have it shot in Taiwan (and get due payment for that!)...
Anyway, I'll be back here posting more stuff and especially my back-log of tons of photos, so be warned!! :)
- Mood:
amused
It's been an intense ride throughout the rehearsal process and the actual stage run, as anyone who'd watched the show could attest to, and in some ways, it has taken a toll on me...
It's nothing short of like having lived another person's life for that amount of time, with a full roller-coaster ride of ups and downs. And mine certainly wasn't an easy character to flesh out in the whole scheme of things...
But it's been a really great learning experience for me, and I am very honoured and pleased to have worked with such a talented cast and production team...
There's even talk of bringing this show to Kuala Lumpur next year, but of course, for that to happen, we will have a lot more polishing up to do...
I will definitely miss all of them, and have absolutely no idea how my life would be again without these people...
Anyway, we've just had our closing party and things was great and ended up just crazy. But those photos will appear in the next entry...
For now, here's a special shot of the entire cast, director, producer, and writer of...
L-R: Sazali, Jimmy, Andrew, Karl, Koey, Claude, Theo, Chandran, Gerald,
Mario, Beatrice, Samantha, Rodney, Rick, Oliver, Jonathan and Edric
Pretty cool eh? ;-)
Will post a bigger version of the above image when I have it...
Meanwhile, it's time for me to get some rest...
- Mood:
thoughtful
It's been a crazy past few weeks, and most of my energy was spent on the play, "Das Experiment: Black Box"...
There are only two more shows left, that is, for tonight and tomorrow. So those who'd yet to catch our performance, please don't miss it!!!
Besides working on this highly intense play, I'd also made full use of my day time to be involved in two more upcoming television commercials this week...
The first TVC I did a couple of days ago was a voiceover recording for Science Centre Singapore, which will be aired on selected channels (like Kids Central, I think) very soon...
Here are a couple of photos I took at Caleb Wong Studio...
VO Recording
L-R: John Tan, Edric Hsu and Caleb Wong
Caleb's home-based but very well equipped studio
And filmed yesterday, my latest TVC was for Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC), by McCann Erickson Advertising and The Reel Thing Productions, which will be aired during the next Chinese New Year...
Come meet my new "family"...
L-R: Mr Teo (Grandfather), Yvonne Khong (Grandmother), Vanese Ng (Mother), Keena Ouh (Daughter) and Edric Hsu (Father)
( More Photos Within This Link )
Okay, I gotta rush to the theatre for the 2nd last show now!
Will post more stuff later! :-)
- Mood: excited
A big thank you to some of you who came to support our stage production "Das Experiment: Black Box" on our opening night, and who'd bought tickets for the subsequent shows!!!
Despite some unexpected minor mishaps and technical flaws, everything went pretty well for our very first show, and we will keep on improving and doing our best...
Even the writer of the novel and movie, Mario Giordano, who specially flew in from Germany for the show, felt deeply moved by our stage adaptation and gave us great feedback during the debrief!
But the best response for Mario and the director, Samantha, was seeing the audience cringe in their seats at certain key points throughout the increasingly intense performance...
A little "good show" gift I made for the whole cast and crew...
Last but not least, this entry is for those who'd watched to give us your brutally honest and unbiased feedback and reviews!
All comments will first be screened to avoid revealing too much details or spoilers for those who have yet to watch...
:-)
- Mood: excited
We've had three very intense and exciting shows so far since our opening night, yet each show felt so different...
It's just like an unseen creature that feeds on itself and grows organically to adapt to various situations that occurs...
Well, it's not a short run, but it WILL end on 29th November, so I really hope nobody will miss out on this roller-coaster ride that might or might not happen again so soon in our local theatre...
For those who are still making up their minds, here's a review of our show...
Das Experiment: Black Box
17th November 2008
Putting the "behind" in "behind the scenes"
(Source: http://www.todayonline.com/pdf_open.asp?i
Will be removing the comments feature on this entry, so that those who wish to give your honest feedback and comments, can leave them all over here:
:-)
- Mood: excited
Last night's performance was specially dedicated to the sponsors and supporters who made the show possible, and after our curtain call, we all got changed and headed over to Oosters Belgian Brasserie to meet the guests at the post-show gala reception...
I decided to just fully enjoy the moment, as well as the food, wine and chatter, without worrying about taking photos...
But at the end of the night, when the restaurant was about to close, I decided to whip out my faithful camera after all...
Here are the images to remind us of the lovely evening...
(L-R: Edric, Terence, Goethe-Institute's Ms SL Moh, Mario Giordano,
Claude, Jonathan, Samantha, Rodney, Koey, Theo and Karl)
And tonight, Mario (who wrote the original story that our play was adapted from), will be bringing us out for drinks! :-)
- Mood:
bouncy
It's been a crazy past few weeks, and I barely managed to keep my sanity juggling my design projects, recordings, casting calls and rehearsals for the play. To balance it all, I took moments off all that business to indulge in my birthday lunches and dinners with my family and friends...
So much apologies for not responding yet to comments from some of my previous blog entries!
Right now, it's only one more day to the opening and world-wide premiere of "Das Experiment: Black Box", and we're busy putting the final touches in the production and getting it all ready...
Just last night, the writer of this play, Mario Giordano, who also wrote the original novel ("Black Box") and the subsequent German film ("Das Experiment"), flew in to town and visited us at the theatre space!
Here are some of the photos I took...
"Das Experiment: Black Box" script opening lines...
Director Samantha Scott-Blackhall, writer Mario Giordano, and I
Cast and director posing for a local Chinese newspaper's photographer...
Deleted scene from the production...
What a motley crew...
The Pavilion, Far East Square (Fire Gate Entrance), where our play will be performed...
For those who wanna see more behind-the-scenes photos, check out the following link...
BEHIND-THE-SCENES
Here's the link to our show's TV trailer again...
OFFICIAL TRAILER
And here's the latest flyer with the show details...
Don't miss it!!!
- Mood:
awake
Last night we planned a surprise birthday party for one of our fellow cast mates, Oliver, during the rehearsal, and Claude prepared an unconventional "cake" for the special occasion...
And right after a surprisingly short but rather intense rehearsal, we had another surprise in store for the birthday boy, this time joining Oliver's other groups of friends over at his own cafe, Going Om at Haji Lane!
But what's a birthday party without plenty of photo-taking?
So, let me present Oliver Pang and the cast of "Das Experiment: Black Box" in one of our very first parties...
#01 - Ollie and the Donut Cake
#02 - Say Cheese!!!
#03 - Hmmm... Yummmm... (Okay let me eat in peace already!!!)
#04 - Mid-Rehearsal Birthday Party at Centre Stage, River Valley Road
#05 - Then the party moved on to Going Om
#06 - Ollie and the Butterfly Cake
#07 - Guards and Prisoners on their day off
#08 - Guards and Prisoners need more days off
#09 - Getting Oliver into a twist
#10 - Samantha could do with some Red Bull wings
#11 - There's a slasher among us
#12 - If you still don't know who's who in this pic, shame on you! :-)
#13 - Whadayacallthese mini Polaroids? They're fun!!!
#14 - Lovely photo memories
We have a few more birthdays coming up, as there are at least four Scorpios in this production, including yours truly!
It's gonna be tough to create so many new "surprises", let me tell you! Muahahaha!
- Mood: bouncy
And they brought in three Fun Engineers from Anergy Fun Engineers Pte Ltd, who specialises in and organises mobile Laser Tag games for events and groups...
For about two hours, the nine members of the cast who turned up for the Laser Tag game, formed two teams, and had a great time shooting at each other with the special "Laser machine gun" equipment, and generally terrorised the playground with our fun mock-battles...
Here's some of the photo evidence...
Anergy Laser Shootout equipment
Our Anergy Fun Engineers: Adrian, Mervin and Sharon Mag
Mag demonstrating how to use the XM-22 Machine Gun
Mag demonstrating how to use the XM-22 Machine Gun
Mag demonstrating how to use the XM-22 Machine Gun
( Click Here For More Photos )
It was such a fun and absolutely painless, unlike "Paint Ball" (aka "Pain + Ball"), but highly exhausting game! And although there were no humans or pets harmed throughout the process, all of us felt as if we'd just finished a triathlon by the end of the three missions!
After the game is over, Sam, Claude, Rick, Koey, Yvonne, Rodney and I found ourselves at the Adams Road Food Centre for dinner and chitchat... but that's off topic already... :-)
Anyway, those who wish to know more about the above game, do check out their official website: http://www.lasertag.sg...
Maybe I should start collecting advertising fees... :-P
- Mood:
exhausted
Well, some things have changed (I have changed), and after steering clear of all the drama on/off stage, I have been bitten by the theatre bug once again!
Today marked the first rehearsal and reading for the new play...
14-29 November 2008
Far East Square
The Pavilion
28 China Street
8pm
$40* Adults Fri-Sat
$36* Adults Tue-Thur/Sun
$28* Students Tue-Sun
(* Excludes SISTIC fee)
Tickets through SISTIC
CLICK HERE FOR MORE DETAILS
This is a Blank Space Productions (a division of Escape Theatre) in collaboration with Goethe-Institut Singapore, based on an acclaimed novel by Mario Giordano, and a German movie of the same title...
The story is based on an actual incident, the Stanford Experiment, in 1971, and sees a group of volunteers at a makeshift prison, taking part in a two-week experiment that analyses the behaviours of a controlled prison environment...
Half the volunteers posed as prison guards while the other half as prisoners. Very soon, the personalities and situations began to get out of hand with the threat of complete chaos and death...
Directed by Samantha Scott-Blackhall and produced by Claude Girardi, this world-wide premiere's extraordinary cast includes:
Beatrice Chia-Richmond, Gerald Chew, Claude Girardi, Jimmy Taenaka, Jonathan Lim, Rodney Oliveiro, R. Chandran, Koey Foo, Andrew Lua, Per Theodor Paulsen, Rick Macivor, Sazali Othman, Oliver Pang, Karl Chaundy, and myself, Edric Hsu...
And here are the photos of the full cast, together with the director Samantha and production stage manager Yvonne Yuen, taken just now...
Our
Those interested to watch the show and would like to save 20% off the above ticket prices, we could arrange to meet up at any of the SISTIC counters, and I could get the discount by showing them my actor's pass...
I'm excited for tomorrow's activity already, as instead of a rehearsal, we will all be playing an outdoor Laser Tag game in a getting-to-know-you-while-shooting-you session!!! :-)
- Mood: excited
My all-you-can-eat buffet days are long long gone, together with any hopes of returning to the below-30" waistline I had when I was erm, below 30yo...
Back then, my motto was "Live to Eat", and my high metabolism rate was the greatest asset!
Things are of course very different now, but occasionally, I just could not say "No" to a good meal, especially when invited by friends!
So a couple of weeks back, Zhen Quan invited me to join him in a special lunchtime buffet offer (basically eat-all-you-can for free!!!), with the only catch being that we have to eat and give our comments in front of TV cameras...
And this is for a new 13-part food programme on the local buffet culture, ironically and aptly named...
Buffet, Buffet
Starting from 2nd October
Every Thurs, 8pm
Channel 8
And our segment was shot at one of my favourite restaurants, "The Magic of Chong Qing Hotpot" at Tanglin Shopping Centre!
Zhen Quan and I ordered and finished up over 30 plates of fish paste, not to mention plenty of mushrooms, beef, luncheon meat, and other fresh stuff. And all these were cooked in a special two-sided hot pot, with boiling chicken stock and Szechuan spicy soup on either side...
Here are some pics I took in between munches and takes...
Edric and Zhen Quan at the entrance of the restaurant
All set for the buffet
The special Szechuan spicy soup and chicken stock hotpot
Only one tray out of the eight or ten that we ordered
The food was, of course, very satisfactory indeed! After all, I do eat there pretty often in the past...
And if you catch us in the above programme, you might get to see how much we enjoyed it! :-P
Fat or not, just eat first lah! :-)
- Mood:
hungry
Do catch this if you're the type who gets up before noon on a Sunday, and enjoys watching children shows with a supernatural twist...
Kids Central
7th September 2008
Sunday
11.30am
Adele Wong and Edric Hsu in "Moon Face 2 - The Psychic Camera"
More photos in my previous blog entry: HERE....
- Mood:
lethargic
Apparently, <<一切完美>> ("Perfect Cut") has garnered the highest viewership ratings for Channel U during its recent run, and it will officially be on repeat telecast tonight!!!
For those who'd missed it the first time, here's a second chance to see what it's all about!
And instead of playing daily, it will be an episode per week...
So, stay home and catch...
Perfect Cut
Channel U
Every Friday
(Starting 5th September)
11.30pm
More about the show from my previous entries: HERE...
- Mood: happy
Well, it's been slightly over 3 months since the shoot (see entry and behind-the-scenes photos here), but it's finally going on air tonight...
For those who have no idea what is going on, or like me, haven't turned on your TV for ages, time to tune in to...
And nope, I don't really need any massage from anyone now...
Really! ;-P
- Mood: amused
A couple of days ago, I was involved in a one-day film shoot for a similar episode in a series of in-house videos commissioned by the Singapore Prison Services...
But this time, I played an ex-offender who helped a new addict at the halfway house...
Entitled "The Ring" (no relation to Sadako), it was written by Peggy Ferroa and produced by FPIX Productions...
Some of you might recognise Peggy as well as local actor Fish Chaar (no relation to charred fish), for they had both appeared in many TV productions...
The final video will not be available for public viewing though, for it is to be shown to the inmates and ex-offenders in the local prisons to encourage them to turn over a new leaf and give them support and confidence when they re-enter society...
And, of course, here are the photos that I took...
Breakthrough Missions Halfway House, the location of our film shoot
Our young director, Francis Toh, who's also the founder of FPIX Productions
Emerging from the shadows and into the light
Fish taking a walk
Fish in a foul mood
Happier moments
Feet over fish pond (that's my brand new shoes on the right, by the way!)
Just for the records...
( More Photos Within This Link )
Cast and Crew of "The Ring"
All in all, it was a straightforward but fun shoot, and I hope to work with these guys again soon...
The day after this, I was involved in a new TV commercial that won't be shown here for the local public either, but that's for the next entry... :-)
- Mood:
busy
In any case, the show's ended.
Thanks for all your sweet comments and support for my little first foray into local TV drama series. :P
I'd posted some behind-the-scenes photos sometime back, but locked them up in case of spoilerish materials. But for anyone interested, here they are again:
And now, here's:
(Behind The Scenes)
Shoot Day 3
Me (as "Alan") at East Coast Park
( More Inside Here )
Michelle and Yong Yi
Thomas, Michelle, Yong Yi and Edric
Me, Joey and a Hum Chin Paeng
Joey Swee and Thomas Ong
To view all the entries in one go, do visit:
- Mood:
touched
Because of this show, I'd specially dug out my old TV set which was surprisingly still in working condition, and started watching the programme faithfully every night...
And I'm really glad I did...
Every episode had been well made (kudos to Wawa Pictures), and each individual story well told...
And from what I've heard, everyone's been giving it terrific reviews...
But just as I'm getting hooked and craving for more, it's almost ended...
Well, I won't be going out tonight, that's for sure... :-)
For those who have no idea what I'm talking about, do stay home tonight and catch the following show:
"Perfect Cut"
Channel U
Final Episode
Friday 25th July
10pm
More here: http://uperfectcut.blogspot.com/
I'd posted the show's theme song in an earlier post (HERE), so now, I wanna share the sub-theme song, which I am loving a lot right now:
by Chew Sin Huey 石欣卉
http://youtube.com/watch?v=Qv94c0dqQTA
"谁说我不在意空等候
原来 你从来都没深刻爱我
我才懂不是我不心痛
其实是心没了感受
你没想像中爱我"
In my next entry, I'll be posting the rest of the photos I'd taken during my involvement in this episode...
And yes, this is the episode that I'm in. See if you could spot me... :-)
Hope you'll enjoy...
- Mood: excited
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gUmFo29Bg
<<一切完美>>
"Perfect Cut"
TV Premiere
Channel U
Tonight
10pm
More here: http://uperfectcut.blogspot.com/
I might be biased, but from the looks of the TV trailers, the above MTV by Xinhui, and working with the wonderful cast, I reckon this will be a very good show...
What do you think?
- Mood: excited
For those who had enjoyed a little short film that I acted in back in 2004, "The Letter", (even though the version posted on Youtube wasn't the final edit at all), you might be interested to know that the director, Justin, had finally managed to come up with a bloopers reel!
Click on the pic below to view...
Cheers! :-)
- Mood: amused
Here's something to share with everyone...
Most of us are blessed with good health and lead happy healthy lives. But there are also many people who are less fortunate, who suffer from physical handicaps due to genetics or accidents...
If you who would like to show your support for these folks with disabilities, either financially, spiritually, or physically, do check out the upcoming latest run of...
Please click on the above link to find out more about the show...
To generate interest for this fund-raising concert, the producers of the show has created a little promotional video segment and posted on Youtube...
You can read about the "making of" the video or view the photos in my earlier entry:
And watch the video right here...
So... don't forget your date with us! :-)
And, finally, please do help spread the word (and the video!)...
- Mood:
ditzy
